Good weather allows crews to get work done on road Section of Route 32 likely to open in early March

February 14, 1996|By James M. Coram | James M. Coram,SUN STAFF

Thanks to a break in the weather last weekend that allowed construction crews to do their work, the opening of Route 32 from Pindell School Road to Route 108 in Clarksville now appears set for early March.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring state Transportation Secretary David L. Winstead and perhaps Gov. Parris N. Glendening is planned for the week of March 10, weather permitting.

The opening of the $55 million freeway twice has been delayed. It was supposed to have opened in late December and then in mid-February. Both dates had to be scuttled because of bad weather that began in November and continued through the January blizzard.

Virtually the only thing still left to be finished on the 2.4 miles of divided highway is painting. Most of that was done over the weekend, said Gene Straub, the district engineer overseeing the work.

Meanwhile, highway crews took advantage of last weekend's weather to complete two other projects delayed since November, he said.

A new northbound lane on U.S. 29 beginning just below Route 175 and continuing to Route 100 was opened Friday afternoon. It had been painted that morning, Mr. Straub said. And a new Park-N-Ride at Broken Land Parkway and Route 32 was opened Monday.

"We're very pleased" that engineers were able to work on all three projects and open two of them, Mr. Straub said. "We've been waiting for months for a break in the weather. It was a very small window of opportunity and we took advantage of it."